In Rip-Off!, 13 of today’s best and most honored writers of speculative fiction face a challenge even they would be hard-pressed to conceive: Pick your favorite opening line from a classic piece of fiction (or even non-fiction) - then use it as the first sentence of an entirely original short story.

Wizard Hello

On his debut album, Wizard Hello, comedian Alex Koll immediately pulls the audience into his mystical world, presenting himself as a wizard (of course) and describing the ins-and-outs of “wizard comedy,” which apparently involves telling jokes to magical crystals.

His jokes land about once every ten minutes and it's really awkward because you can hear the live audience not really enjoying themselves and every now and then he calls them out on it. At one point he asks them to do better. I'll be asking for a refund.

The Areas of My Expertise

In the great tradition of the American almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although best sellers such as Poor Richard's Almanack and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they also were largely true.

The Gentle Giants of Ganymede

Long before the world of the Ganymeans blew apart millennia ago, the strange race of giants had already vanished. All that remained of them was a wrecked ship abandoned on a frozen moon of Jupiter. Now Earth’s scientists are there, determined to ferret out the secret of the lost race. But when suddenly the Ganymeans return, they bring with them answers that will reveal the secret of our own as well.

So much of sci-fi is pessimistic in nature. Taking the ills of society and extrapolating them to the extreme. Hogan's "Giant's Series" is so good because he show's humanity for the good they can do. The scientific progress they can make and how welcoming they can be. Get this book.

Dimension of Miracles

Dimension of Miracles is a satirical science fiction novel first published by Dell in 1968. It's about Tom Carmody, a New Yorker who, thanks to a computer error, wins the main prize in the Intergalactic Sweepstakes. Tom claims his prize before the error is discovered and is allowed to keep it. However, since Tom is a human from Earth without galactic status and no space traveling experience, he has no homing instinct that can guide him back to Earth once his odyssey begins - and the galactic lottery organizers cannot transport him home.

Author Ronda Del Boccio says:"Hilarious! - Could have been written this year"

This book was described as being recommended by Neil Gaiman, narrated by John Hodgman, and was kind of a precursor to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was upset at how dull this book was. The plot is pretty much Gulliver's Travels in space. It has MAJOR pacing issues and spends far too little time on certain things but then will spend entire chapters describing the most doldrum and mediocre issues. The main character fails to grab the reader. I didn't care about him at all because he didn't seem real. He doesn't spend anytime in any sort of awe at the situations around him. Not a good listen, will be asking for a refund. The only good thing I can say about it is that John Hodgman is a great narrator (as always).

However, if you were considering this book, I highly recommend Year Zero by Rob Reid (also narrarated by Hodgman).

I was unimpressed with the story, a lot of usual sci-fi fare, but I was really impressed by the descriptions of the aliens. Published in 1938, I can really see the influence on a lot of aliens in other franchises especially Mass Effect. I'll probably get around to the rest of the trilogy some time.

This national best seller is an entertaining, informative, and sometimes shocking expose of the way history is taught to American students. Lies My Teacher Told Me won the American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship.

Really interesting anecdotes on American history, but not enough of the book is devoted to that. I was hoping for a book that was all of that. Stuff like "You learned that x but actually y" is what I wanted but the book only devotes about 1/4 of the time to that. The rest is devoted to telling you why you learned it the way you did which his conclusion is usually: racism. Anyway, it was alright, but like I said I wish there was something else.

Five years after the Death Star was destroyed and Darth Vader and the Emperor were defeated, the galaxy is struggling to heal the wounds of war, Princess Leia and Han Solo are married and expecting twins, and Luke Skywalker has become the first in a long-awaited line of new Jedi Knights. But thousands of light-years away, the last of the Emperor’s warlords - the brilliant and deadly Grand Admiral Thrawn - has taken command of the shattered Imperial fleet, readied it for war, and pointed it at the fragile heart of the New Republic....

This is classic Star Wars. If you miss the universe from before Lucas ruined things with the prequels, this is what you're looking for. I wish this series had been made into episodes VII, VIII, and IX as long as Lucas had kept his hands off it. This book is probably the weakest of the series but its still a solid 8/10 and only gets better after this.

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 3: The Last Command

Overwhelmed by the ships and clones at Thrawn's command, the Republic has one last hope: sending a small force, led by Luke Skywalker, into the very stronghold that houses Thrawn's terrible cloning machines. There a final danger awaits, as the Dark Jedi C'baoth directs the battle against the Rebels and builds his strength to finish what he had already started: the destruction of Luke Skywalker.

This is classic Star Wars. If you miss the universe from before Lucas ruined things with the prequels, this is what you're looking for. I wish this series had been made into episodes VII, VIII, and IX as long as Lucas had kept his hands off it.

Star Wars: Dark Force Rising: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 2

The dying Empire's most cunning and ruthless warlord - Grand Admiral Thrawn - has taken command of the remnants of the Imperial fleet and launched a massive campaign aimed at the New Republic's destruction. With the aid of unimaginable weapons long hidden away on a backwater planet, Thrawn plans to turn the tide of battle, overwhelm the New Republic, and impose his iron rule. Meanwhile, Han and Lando Calrissian race against time to find proof of treason inside the highest Republican Council.

This is classic Star Wars. If you miss the universe from before Lucas ruined things with the prequels, this is what you're looking for. I wish this series had been made into episodes VII, VIII, and IX as long as Lucas had kept his hands off it.

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